'Why did AIMPLB take 30 years to oppose triple talaq?' asks Arif Mohammed Khan in Aap Ki Adalat
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan is a veteran in politics who is known as a reformer. The erudite leader who speaks his mind and puts forward his opinions with ample context and logic was in the witness box of Aap Ki Adalat, the iconic show anchored by Rajat Sharma, Editor-In-Chief and Chairman of India TV.
Arif Mohammed Khan has always sided with reforms in Muslims society. Khan who was Minister of State in former PM Rajiv Gandhi's government, resigned from his post after Rajiv Gandhi government passed a law Khan did not agree with. It was in connection with the Shah Bano case. Arif Mohammed Khan said that at that time (1986), All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had supported the practice of triple talaq among Muslims.
AIMPLB's stand changed. not in subsequent years but decades. 2017, AIMPLB told courts that it is their belief that triple talaq was an unjust practice.
"Why did it take 30 years for AIMPLB for a change in opinion? asked Arif Mohammed Khan.
"There are some who say that Muslims in India do not feel safe. What do you think about this opinion?" asked Rajat Sharma.
Arif Mohammed Khan responded to this question with a faint smile on his lips.
"They say Muslims aren't safe in India. Let them go to Pakistan to see horrific conditions there," said Khan, "On the day of almost every 'Jumma', bombs are planted inside mosques"
"Let them stay in Syria for a while, or even in Yemen," he said as the audience gave him a round of applause.
Arif Mohammed Khan strongly defended the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He countered the general argument that says that CAA will revoke the citizenship of Indian Muslims.
"The law does not have anything to do with Indian Muslims," he said, "It has been designed for those who are escaping religious persecution from other countries"
A member of the audience asked Arif Mohammed Khan his opinion on the argument that CAA violates principles of Equality Before Law and Equal Protection of Law enshrined in the Indian Constitution. On this Khan said that CAA does not violate the Indian Constitution. He made clear a vital legal point that the principles implicit in the question asked by the audience member come into play after a person becomes an Indian citizen.
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